This conference will be the eighth in a series of such conferences. Previous meetings have been distinguished by a remarkable degree of success in accomplishing conference goals, including the discussion of cutting-edge research, and the inclusion of outstanding scientists working in areas other than digestive diseases whose insights have opened up new areas of research. All previous meetings have been enthusiastically received by participants at all levels of training and experience. Participants at the last meeting voted unanimously that another meeting should be held, and elected Dr. Kim E. Barrett as Chair and Dr. Daniel Louvard as Co-Chair for the 1999 meeting. The overall themes for the meeting arose from input provided by previous participants. Nine scientific sessions will be held on the following topics: (1) Development of the gastrointestinal tract; (2) Mechanisms of intestinal-specific gene regulation; (3) Normal and abnormal control of intestinal epithelial proliferation; (4) Normal and abnormal epithelial cell biology; (5) Novel aspects of intracellular signalling; (6) New insights into transporter structure/function; (7) Molecular physiology of epithelial transport in the intestine; (8) Integrated regulation of intestinal physiology; and (9) Mechanisms of gastrointestinal pathophysiology. The invited speakers and session chairs are an international group, with 33 from all parts of North America and five from Europe. The Chair and Co-Chair have made a special effort to invite women, minority and young investigators (assistant professor or below) as speakers and session chairs. The Chair of the meeting is a woman, as are two session chairs and nine speakers; there is also one African-American speaker and seven speakers who qualify as young investigators. Conferences in this series have played a unique role in furthering research into gastrointestinal health and disease by bringing together basic and clinical scientists, and by inspiring the careers of junior investigators. The inclusion of a continuous spectrum of topics from cell and molecular approaches to integrated physiology and pathophysiology.